Under Operation Kaveri, a 24-hour mission by the Indian Air Force to evacuate 192 people from strife-torn Sudan

With Operation Kaveri, launched on April 24, 2023, having evacuated over 3800 people from Sudan, the Ministry of Defence on Saturday shared details about a “one of a kind” Indian Air Force mission that led to 192 people being flown to safety in India. Here is the sequence of events, as narrated by India’s Ministry of Defence: In the midnight hours of 03 - 04 May 23, an Indian Air Force C-17 Globemaster aircraft airborne from Hindan (an IAF base on the outskirts of Delhi), flew through the night to land in the early morning hours at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The aircraft refuelled at Jeddah to undertake a nonstop flight from Jeddah, via war torn Sudan and back to India. The aircraft took excess fuel from Jeddah to avoid a situation of non-availability of fuel and refuelling delays in Sudan. The mission was one of a kind, with the aircraft carrying 192 passengers, mostly ladies, children and elderly persons, who were either NRIs, foreign nationals or OCIs (Overseas Citizens of India). These people could not be taken to Jeddah, and hence were required to be flown directly to India in a nonstop flight by the heavy jet, the Ministry of Defence pointed out. Inside Sudan, the aircraft carried out an overhead steep tactical arrival followed by an assault approach to land the heavy jet. During the entire duration of the ground operations, the aircraft engines were kept running in readiness of a quick exit from the airfield, in case of such a need arising. The crew encountered another unplanned emergency when one of the passengers became unconscious during the flight. This situation was immediately and proficiently handled by the crew who administered him 100% Oxygen to stabilise him. The aircraft landed at Ahmedabad late in the evening on May 4, 2023, and then at the home base of Hindan late in the night on the same day. “The crew thus flew through extended duty periods of nearly 24 hrs to get some of the last stranded countrymen back to India,” the Ministry of Defence said. On Friday (May 5, 2023), the Indian Air Force had said that its aircraft had evacuated over 2100 people from Sudan. “#OperationKaveri Update Since the launch of the aerial effort over the past few days, the #IAF has so far evacuated over 2100 persons from Sudan utilising C-17 and C-130 J aircraft,” the IAF had tweeted.